TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan's Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) on Thursday (Dec. 15) stated that the lack of transparency with China's official COVID case statistics is hindering efforts by Taiwan to reopen the mini-three links (小三通) as it makes estimations on the potential strain on local healthcare facilities difficult.

The mini-three links refer to postal, transportation, and trade links between the cities of Xiamen, Mawei and Quanzhou in China's Fujian Province, and Taiwan's Kinmen and Matsu islands. During a press conference that afternoon, a member of the media asked CECC head Victor Wang (王必勝) whether progress on reopening the three links will continue to be stalled due to the lack of transparency by China over its COVID case numbers. of Kinmen and Matsu.

Wang responded by saying that the CECC will determine the timing for the reopening of the mini-three links from the perspective of epidemic prevention. He said that in addition to gathering information, his team visited Kinmen on Tuesday (Dec. 13) to assess the island's preparedness and have submitted the center's suggestions to relevant government departments to decide when and how to reopen the links.

He then listed two main concerns when deciding when to reopen the mini-three links. First, is an assessment of the outbreak in China, and second, whether medical care capacity and epidemic prevention resources are adequate to handle an influx of COVID cases from China.

Regarding the assessment of the extent of the outbreak in China, Wang said it is "very difficult." Wang pointed out that China in recent days reported 1,977 COVID cases for the entire country, and pointed out that this number is "quite small."

However, Wang cautioned that "whether or not this is the true number, I think it's really hard for us (to ascertain)." Wang added that "because there is no way to evaluate the epidemic situation in China," it also makes it difficult for the CECC to determine whether the medical treatment capacity and epidemic prevention resources on the outer islands are sufficient, or whether there is adequate preparation for the arrival of infected travelers.

Wang advised the government department responsible for making the decision on whether to reopen the transportation links to consider the matter very carefully.

China's National Health Commission’s website on Wednesday announced that it would stop reporting asymptomatic COVID infection as it has become “impossible to accurately grasp” the number of new cases. Although the Chinese government on Wednesday reported a mere 2,249 symptomatic cases nationwide, the National Health Commission told the media that day that it would immediately open 14,000 fever clinics in big hospitals and 33,000 in community hospitals.